By Your Side
by BreadNotDead
Summary: Because just being there, by your side, is all that really mattered. (Contains spoilers for Eryn's ending)
**DISCLAIMER:**

 **Fairy Fencer F is owned by Compile Heart.**

 **(Note: This is during the first timeline and is based on the PS3 version of the game.)**

* * *

Every once in a while, all the fairies would gather at the inn and talk with each other as their Fencers were away. They knew that even their Fencers needed their own space from time to time, and Eryn knew that the most when it came to Fang. He was most likely pigging out on some other restaurant again, not like that was any surprise.

They had talked about their respective relationships with their Fencers. Eryn had noted that each and every one of them carried a different kind of devotion towards their partners, whether that being of a familial kind (Marissa and Galdo: it was so obvious she constantly babied him like a mother would; Bahus and Harley: if Bahus practically being like her nanny was a way one could see things in a familial point of view), or simply that of a master and subordinate (Cui and Tiara: Cui was like that cute pet mascot girls like Tiara were always guaranteed to have; Souji and Pippin: the typical master and butler relationship, even if Pippin doesn't exactly fit the image of being a "usual" master; and Ryushin and Sherman: Eryn would have thought that a classy guy like Sherman would have an equally classy fairy like Souji, but the two's serious dynamic suits them quite well).

So what does she and Fang have?

That idiot couldn't possibly harbor any romantic feelings for her (...right? It was hard to imagine Fang falling in love with anything else other than food), so maybe they were like brother and sister?

...For some reason, the mere thought of that made her chest heavy.

Eryn couldn't help but ponder on that thought. She and Fang were close; they could seemingly read what was on each other's minds without having to say a word. They were described to have a surprisingly high amount of synchronization with each other, but whether they managed to be perfectly compatible with other or it was through their bond; Eryn wasn't so sure.

Eryn let out a tired sigh. She had gotten so deep in thought about that topic that she had went out from the inn and was currently walking about outside in attempt to clear her head.

Besides, what does she care about what Fang thinks about her? It's not like it bothers her or anything...!

"Oh, Eryn, what are you doing out this late in the afternoon?"

A gentlemanly voice snaps her out from her thoughts.

"A-ah! Lord Sherman...?!"

Speaking of which, one of the very people she was thinking about a while ago just happened to show up. That was quite the coincidence.

But wait! She couldn't look stupid in front of _*the*_ Lord Sherman! Composure, composure!

"O-oh, I was just out thinking... Yeah, that's what I was doing..." she replies back hesitantly.

"I see. Well, this is perfect timing. I just happened to be out for a breath of fresh air myself. Would you like to accompany me?" Sherman asks.

Ooh, to think that the dashing Lord Sherman was asking her to go with him! How could she refuse? She could practically see the sparkles surrounding his face!

"Y-yeah! I'd be so honored to go with you, Lord Sherman!" She says eagerly.

Sherman flashes her one of his smiles that would make most women's hearts melt. "I'm glad to hear that. Shall we get going?"

He stretches out an arm in front and waits for her to move first. Eryn's eyes shone with admiration. _As expected of Lord Sherman! What a gentleman!_

* * *

Meanwhile, a certain lazy Fencer was busy stuffing himself with all kinds of food. He seems to have been going at it for quite a while now, judging by the amount of empty plates stacked on his table.

"U-um, sir? Are you sure you can eat that much?" A concerned waiter asks him.

"Yeah, it's fine," He replies between bites, "I've got the money to pay!" Luckily, he made sure he didn't forget his wallet this time.

"Oh, if isn't the mister Fencer!" A young cheerful voice calls out.

Fang looks up from his meal and sees a familiar blonde girl staring at him with her usual "innocent" expression, but Fang knew better. "Oh, hey, Lola. What're you doing here? Not scamming money off another poor sucker for once?"

"How rude. Every growing girl needs to eat her food," Lola replies. _But she didn't deny the money scamming part?_ Fang thinks with a raised brow. "Are you all by yourself today? That's pretty rare."

Confusion sets upon Fang's face. "Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're not with that fairy like you usually are. You two always seemed to be a two-in-one package with the way you're together most of the time," Lola explains.

Fang blinked. Sure, he and Eryn were always with each other, since they were partners..."Oh come on, a guy can't get some time all by himself?" Fang retorts dismissively as he starts to eat his food again.

"Is that so? I thought for sure you got replaced. She was walking by with the sophisticated-looking blonde a while ago," Lola says nonchalantly.

Hearing that, he stops mid-way through his meal. "Sophisticated...?" Only one guy fit that description. His eyes narrow at the thought. "It's that smug know-it-all..."

"They looked like they were having fun with each other. Hmm, a Fencer and a fairy going on a romantic outing together. How nice," Lola seems to have a thoughtful look in her eyes as she says the last part. "Anyway, you're a surprisingly generous Fencer, mister, seeing that you're okay with your fairy seeing other people. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have food to eat." With a smile, she walks past his table and heads in to order.

Fang stares silently at his food, seemingly brooding over something. A few seconds tick by, and he starts to furiously eat his food again. But after a couple of swallows later, he stops. There was still leftover food left, normally he should be able to to finish it...

With a dissatisfied grunt, he slams money on the table and walks out.

The food seemed to have become tasteless in his mouth.

* * *

Eryn let out a laugh. Sherman had told another funny story again.

Overall, their walk had been a rather enjoyable experience. Sherman had been a gentleman the entire time, by treating her to a meal, telling her of interesting stories of his previous adventures, politely listening to her when it was her time to talk, and giving her smooth compliments. Sherman was a pleasant person to be around with. He was cultured and refined, and had willingly become a Fencer in order to save others. He was the complete opposite of Fang, who was rude and a slacker, and had only become a Fencer if he hadn't pulled her Fury out (and even then, he only did it on the mistaken assumption he would get food) and guilt-tripped him into helping her.

What was not to like about Sherman? He was everything Fang was not.

...Then again, maybe it was because he * _wasn't*_ Fang.

A frown settles on Eryn's face. Sherman notices this and stops walking. "Is something the matter? You have this troubled look on your face."

Eryn forces a smile and stumbles out a reply. "E-ehm, it's nothing! I was just thinking of something again... Ahaha..."

"You also seemed to be deep in thought earlier. If you don't mind, would you like to tell me what is the source of your concern? Keeping things to yourself does not usually benefit the situation," Sherman says.

Seeing that she could no longer keep up her facade, Eryn sighs. "Well... I was just wondering... Lord Sherman, is a romantic relationship between a Fencer and a fairy... unheard of?"

Because as far as she noticed, most of the Fencers and their fairies' relationships are that of a mutual camaraderie at best. Never a situation of the... "like-like" kind, so Eryn assumed that such a thing happening between a Fencer and a fairy was simply unthinkable.

"A romantic relationship, you say? It certainly is an uncommon occurrence, but I do not dismiss the possibility of it happening," Sherman replies. "Fairies with human forms are most likely to develop an attraction to a human Fencer because of their compatible appearances, and that they are special in the fact that they can age normally like a human does. Though, there may be certain cases of different species having the same emotions..."

Eryn listens and processes the information in her mind. "I see..."

"Perhaps you were thinking of a certain Fencer with this in mind?" Sherman asks with a slightly teasing smile.

A blush comes to Eryn's face at his words. "N-no! I just happened to be curious, that's all!"

Sherman chuckles knowingly in response. "There is no doubt that a bond established between a Fencer and their partner is a strong one. But to what extent... well, that is something that will have to depend entirely on the people involved."

Eryn becomes quiet again, reflecting on his words. Sensing that she needed some time to think by herself, Sherman speaks up. "Well, Eryn, it appears that you have much contemplating to do. I couldn't possibly think of disturbing you, so I will take my leave."

"Lord Sherman..." Eryn stares at him with slight awe and surprise at his considerate gesture.

"Do take care, Eryn." Sherman gives her a smile and walks off.

Eryn looks down on the ground and starts to mull over her thoughts again. "To what extent, huh..."

* * *

The sun had set, and everyone had returned to the inn to rest for the day.

"Dinner is ready!" the manager of the inn, with the specific surname of Mrs. Five-Star, announces. "...Oh? Where's that kid? He always comes rushing in as soon as it's dinnertime."

"That is highly unusual for Fang..." Harley remarks.

"Heeey! Fang! Dinner's here! Come on down!" Galdo energetically yells out upstairs.

"Yeah, yeah..." Fang eventually comes lazily marching down the stairs, grumbling to himself all the while.

"You've just been staying all holed up in your room the rest of the day! Is something up?" Galdo asks.

"It's nothing..." Fang replies in a half-hearted tone.

"Hm, now that the young man is present, all that's left is that other strapping young lad. Where is he?" Pippin asks.

Harley also looks around and notices another member missing. "Come to think of it, Eryn doesn't seem to be around either. Where'd they go?"

"..." Fang remains silent as an irritated expression comes into his face. Tiara notices this and stares at him with a scrutinizing look.

Just at that moment, the door opens and Sherman comes in.

"Oh, speaking of the devil...!" Galdo exclaims as he sees him.

"Sherman, you have returned," Ryushin greets in his usual robotic voice.

"Well, Sherman's back, but there's still no sign of Eryn," Bahus says.

"Oh, is Eryn still not here? I had left her to think by herself a few hours ago, but I didn't expect her to be still out so late..." Sherman replies.

Finally, Fang decides to react for once. "Wait, so you just left her?! I thought that kind of thing goes against your gentleman crap!"

Sherman stares in bemusement at Fang's reaction. "Fang, every man must know when to give a lady some proper space when she needs it." His expression turns into that of slight worry afterwards. "Though, it is rather worrying to know that she is still out there at this time of hour..."

"Tch, that idiot... I'll go look for her." With an angry huff, Fang rushes out the door.

Tiara watches Fang leave with a look of understanding and resignation in her eyes.

* * *

Eryn stares at her reflection in the water by the riverbank.

She is a fairy. Fang is a Fencer.

More than that, she is a part of the Goddess, and he is a human.

In a way, she was a bit glad to hear from Sherman that Fencers and fairies were capable of liking each other * _that*_ way, but another complication arose when she remembered that she was a manifestation of the Goddess.

Not only is she a fairy, of a different species, but she's already a part of the Goddess that has to go back to her once she's revived. With all these things present, it only seemed to show that she and Fang weren't meant to stay together.

There's always Tiara. She's a human Fencer like Fang, and though they were prone to having a few arguments, Eryn knew that Fang held some fondness towards her. And as much as she hated to admit it, Tiara was physically superior to her own body in every way. Tiara was also a lot more mature than her, and her childish attitude was most likely why Fang would view her as a sister-like figure instead. Tiara was a good match. Is the better match.

A tear escaped from her eye and made a ripple on the water below. Realizing that she was starting to cry, she furiously wipes away at her eyes with her sleeve.

She couldn't afford to wallow in self-pity like this. Knowing these facts, she has to accept them and move on. Fang's her partner. So whatever makes him happy will make her happy too.

...Right?

She hears footsteps approach. Eryn snaps out of her depressed mood as fear starts to make way into her. It was already dark out; some creeper must have come to make trouble for her...!

Eryn shuts her eyes as she turns around, a frantic "Hee-yaaah!" coming out of her lips as she kicks the supposed offender from behind.

 **WHAM!**

"Agh! What the hell?!"

Her eyes promptly open in surprise at hearing the familiar voice. "Fang...?"

He was currently clutching his stomach in pain. Her kick must have hit him there. "Seriously, I come looking for you and this is how you repay me...?!"

Eryn still continues to look at him in disbelief. "Looking for me...?"

Having slightly recovered from the pain, Fang straightens his posture. "Isn't it obvious? You're the only one who hasn't come back to the inn, so I came to go get you." Still seeing the look of shock on her face, Fang adds in a haughty manner, "You don't have to look so surprised. I'm your Fencer, so that makes me responsible for you. Even I knew that."

"...Haha. It's okay, you don't need to act. You don't have to pretend to care. I already knew that you found me annoying anyway," Eryn says with a wry smile.

Fang widens his eyes at her words. "Huh? What brought that all of a sudden?"

"It's just that our journey will be coming to an end soon, so once everything is over I'll be going back to the Goddess. That should be a relief to you, right? I know you viewed me as a bother so I just wanted to say I'm grateful you helped me out this far," Eryn gives him a smile that even he knew held no genuine happiness.

"...Don't be stupid." Fang eventually says after a moment of silence.

"...Huh?" Eryn blurts out in surprise.

"If I had seen you as a bother, I would have ditched you a long time ago. I don't tolerate things just for anyone, you know. Sure, it did seem kind of a nuisance at first, but I guess after meeting all these people in the Fang Gang, I thought that things didn't seem so bad. Even Sherman, despite being the cocky bastard that he is," Fang explains. Then he looks at her straight in the eye, an unusual amount of seriousness present in his face that somehow made her heart beat faster. "And who says you're going to disappear? We're partners, and as your partner, I'm the one who's supposed to decide whether I'll allow it."

"...How do you know that? How do you know for sure?" Eryn asks with slight incredulity.

Fang shrugs. "I just do. I'm just that awesome."

Fang was always like this. Going on and on about how he's the one who gets to decide his fate; never submitting to anything he found as a pain. Eryn had perceived it as total laziness on his part, but this...

"...Pfft. Hahaha! What's with that? 'Because I'm just that awesome'... that's such a stupid reason," Eryn says as she covers her mouth with a hand in an attempt to stifle her laughter.

Fang blinks at her sudden change in mood, feeling slightly embarrassed that she had laughed off his totally cool speech. "Hey, what do you mean 'stupid'?!"

Eryn wipes away the tears (funny, she could remember how she was crying for a different reason a while ago) in her eyes. "Fang, you're still such a moron." She places her hands on her hips and takes on that arrogant expression she usually did. "You're right, I definitely can't leave you. You're an idiot, so I still need to look after you. I'm your partner, after all!"

"Heh, whatever. You clearly haven't grasped the essence of my charisma yet. That's your loss," Fang retorts in what he passes off as being offended, but the light tone in his voice and the smile on his face showed otherwise. "Let's go. I'm starving. If you're not gonna budge, I'll leave you here."

"Like you'd do that. Admit it, Fang, you'd be lonely without me," Eryn replies smugly.

As they start to walk back to the inn, side by side, just like they've always been, Fang watches the bright expression on Eryn's face from the corner of his eye and thinks that she's definitely a lot better when she smiles.

* * *

 _"Say, why are you here? Didn't you go back to the Goddess?"_

 _"That's what I thought, but I'm not sure... It's weird... But I think I got a theory for why I got to stay in this world."_

 _"Oh yeah? What's that?"_

 _"Do you really wanna know?"_

 _"Yeah, yeah. Get to the point."_

 _"When we were bathed in the Goddess's light, I think you wished to stay with me forever."_

.

.

.

END

* * *

 **First time writing a romance fic between canon characters. There is also a considerable lack of FFF fics in here, and Fang &Eryn happens to be my OTP, so I figured, why not make a fic of my own? :P**

 **...Erm, I hope it didn't suck too much?**


End file.
